Last year's GE results were due to economic issues, says Minister Shanmugam

Washington DC - The outcome of last year's Singapore General Election (GE) has been likened by some political commentators as an Arab Spring, noted Foreign Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam. However, he felt the results were due to economic issues, as well as specific local issues like housing and transport. Speaking at the Singapore Conference on the topic of "New Directions: Singapore Politics and Foreign Policy" on Wednesday, Mr Shanmugam said the GE results should be viewed in perspective. "We had the ruling party stay in power with 60 per cent of the vote, 93 per cent of the seats," he added. Mr Shanmugam said the influx of low wage workers from China and India had impacted Singapore's low-wage workers, whose salaries have not risen in line with inflation during the past decade. Technological advancement also played a part, he added. Mr Shanmugam said: "Technology ...